Disabling surgical tools due to manual bailout
A surgical tool includes a drive housing removably coupled to a tool driver of a robotic surgical system, a shaft extending from the drive housing, an end effector arranged at an end of the shaft, and a computer system. The computer system is programmed to send a command signal to a motor of the tool driver to drive rotation of a drive shaft mounted within the drive housing, monitor torque and rotational motion of the motor with a torque sensor and a rotary encoder, respectively, in communication with the computer system, measure an unexpected change in the torque or the rotational motion of the motor with the torque sensor or the rotary encoder when the surgical tool is manually bailed out by manually rotating the drive shaft and backdriving the motor, report the unexpected change as a bailout signal, and disable the surgical tool once the bailout signal is received.
1 . A surgical tool, comprising:
a drive housing with a drive shaft rotatably mounted therein;
a shaft extending from the drive housing and terminating with an end effector arranged at an end of the shaft;
a tool driver configured to receive the drive housing and including:
a motor operatively coupled to the drive shaft when the drive housing is mounted to the tool driver; and
a torque sensor configured to monitor a torque of the motor; and
a computer system including a memory and a processor operable to execute commands stored on the memory, the computer system being programmed to:
generate a bailout signal after measuring an unexpected change in the torque with the torque sensor when the surgical tool is manually bailed out by manually rotating the drive shaft and backdriving the motor; and
disable the surgical tool once the bailout signal is received.
2 . The surgical tool of claim 1 , wherein, by disabling the surgical tool, the computer system is further programmed to render the surgical tool unavailable for future procedures.
3 . The surgical tool of claim 2 , wherein rendering the surgical tool unavailable for future procedures comprises at least one of:
allowing a knife located at the end effector to be retracted to a home position;
preventing the knife from extending;
permitting actuation of opposing jaws of the end effector;
permitting articulation of a wrist interposing the end effector and the shaft; and
permitting rotation of the shaft.
4 . The surgical tool of claim 1 , wherein, by disabling the surgical tool, the computer system is further programmed to:
generate an alert perceivable by a user that the surgical tool has been bailed out; and
override the alert and thereby allowing the user to proceed with operation of the surgical tool.
5 . The surgical tool of claim 1 , wherein the robotic surgical system is a first robotic surgical system and the surgical tool further includes an internal computer housed within the drive housing and including an internal computer memory, and wherein the computer system is further programmed to:
communicate the bailout signal to the internal computer such that the bailout signal is stored in the internal computer memory;
upon installing the surgical tool on a tool driver of a second robotic surgical system, query the internal computer memory with the second robotic surgical system and determine that the surgical tool was previously bailed out; and
initiate one or more remedial actions to ensure safe operation of the surgical tool on the second robotic surgical system.
6 . The surgical tool of claim 5 , wherein initiating the one or more remedial actions comprises disabling the surgical tool and thereby rendering the surgical tool unavailable for future procedures.
7 . The surgical tool of claim 5 , wherein initiating the one or more remedial actions comprises generating an alert that informs a user that the surgical tool was previously bailed out.
8 . The surgical tool of claim 1 , wherein the surgical tool is manually bailed out using a bailout mechanism that includes:
a key mounted within the drive housing; and
a transfer drive shaft interconnected by gearing to the drive shaft and a firing member, the firing member being longitudinally movable within the drive housing and operatively coupled to a knife located at the end effector,
wherein a user accesses the key and manually couples the key to the transfer drive shaft, and wherein manually rotating the key in a first angular direction drives the firing member and the knife in a first longitudinal direction.
9 . The surgical tool of claim 1 , wherein the surgical tool is manually bailed out using a bailout mechanism that includes:
a bailout tool arranged on an exterior of the drive housing and operatively coupled to a primary gear mounted within the drive housing, the primary gear being interconnected by gearing to the drive shaft and rotatably mounted to a closure yoke, wherein the closure yoke is coupled to a closure tube of the shaft and movable to actuate opposing jaws of the end effector, and
wherein manually rotating the bailout tool drives the closure yoke and the closure tube in a longitudinal direction to actuate the opposing jaws.
10 . The surgical tool of claim 1 , wherein the computer system is further programmed to communicate the bailout signal to a central database to disable the surgical tool.
11 . The surgical tool of claim 1 , wherein the unexpected change is the torque being inconsistent with a command signal sent to the motor by the computer system.
12 . A surgical tool, comprising:
a drive housing configured to be removably coupled to a tool driver of a robotic surgical system;
a shaft extending from the drive housing and terminating with an end effector arranged at an end of the shaft; and
a computer system including a memory and a processor operable to execute commands stored on the memory, the computer system being programmed to:
set a bailout Boolean value to “true” in the computer system once a command signal is sent to a motor of the tool driver to commence a firing sequence of the surgical tool;
set the bailout Boolean value to “false” in the computer system if the firing sequence is fully completed; and
maintain the bailout Boolean value as “true” if the surgical tool is manually bailed out before completing the firing sequence.
13 . The surgical tool of claim 12 , wherein the computer system is further programmed to disable the surgical tool when the bailout Boolean value is “true” following the surgical tool being manually bailed out.
14 . The surgical tool of claim 12 , wherein the robotic surgical system is a first robotic surgical system and the surgical tool further includes an internal computer housed within the drive housing and including an internal computer memory, and wherein the computer system is further programmed to:
communicate the bailout Boolean value as “true” to the internal computer and store the bailout Boolean value in the internal computer memory;
upon manually bailing out the surgical tool before completing the firing sequence and subsequently installing the surgical tool on a tool driver of a second robotic surgical system, query the internal computer memory with the second robotic surgical system and determine that the surgical tool was previously bailed out; and
initiate one or more remedial actions to ensure safe operation of the surgical tool on the second robotic surgical system.
15 . A method of operating a surgical tool coupled to a motor, the surgical tool having a drive housing, a shaft extending from the drive housing, and an end effector arranged at an end of the shaft, the method comprising:
manually bailing out the surgical tool via a bailout mechanism included in the surgical tool and thereby manually rotating a drive shaft of a motor coupled to the surgical tool; and
disabling the surgical tool after measuring an unexpected change in one or more operational parameters of the motor with one or more monitoring devices as the drive shaft is manually rotated.
16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising generating a bailout signal after measuring the unexpected change, wherein the surgical tool is disabled once the bailout signal is received.
17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the unexpected change in the one or more operational parameters comprises a measured operational parameter that is inconsistent with a command signal sent to the motor prior to manually bailing out the surgical tool.
18 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the unexpected change in the one or more operational parameters comprises at least one of a measured torque and a measured motion of the motor that is inconsistent with the command signal send to the motor prior to manually bailing out the surgical tool.
19 . A surgical tool, comprising:
a drive housing with a drive shaft rotatably mounted therein;
a shaft extending from the drive housing and terminating with an end effector arranged at an end of the shaft;
a tool driver configured to receive the drive housing and including:
a motor operatively coupled to the drive shaft when the drive housing is mounted to the tool driver; and
a rotary encoder configured to monitor a rotational motion of the motor; and
a computer system including a memory and a processor operable to execute commands stored on the memory, the computer system being programmed to:
generate a bailout signal after measuring an unexpected change in the rotational motion of the motor with the rotary encoder when the surgical tool is manually bailed out by manually rotating the drive shaft and backdriving the motor; and
disable the surgical tool once the bailout signal is received.
20 . The surgical tool of claim 19 , wherein, by disabling the surgical tool, the computer system is further programmed to render the surgical tool unavailable for future procedures.
21 . The surgical tool of claim 19 , wherein rendering the surgical tool unavailable for future procedures comprises at least one of:
allowing a knife located at the end effector to be retracted to a home position;
preventing the knife from extending;
permitting actuation of opposing jaws of the end effector;
permitting articulation of a wrist interposing the end effector and the shaft; and
permitting rotation of the shaft.
22 . The surgical tool of claim 19 , wherein, by disabling the surgical tool, the computer system is further programmed to:
generate an alert perceivable by a user that the surgical tool has been bailed out; and
override the alert and thereby allowing the user to proceed with operation of the surgical tool.
23 . The surgical tool of claim 19 , wherein the robotic surgical system is a first robotic surgical system and the surgical tool further includes an internal computer housed within the drive housing and including an internal computer memory, and wherein the computer system is further programmed to:
communicate the bailout signal to the internal computer such that the bailout signal is stored in the internal computer memory;
upon installing the surgical tool on a tool driver of a second robotic surgical system, query the internal computer memory with the second robotic surgical system and determine that the surgical tool was previously bailed out; and
initiate one or more remedial actions to ensure safe operation of the surgical tool on the second robotic surgical system.
24 . The surgical tool of claim 19 , wherein the surgical tool is manually bailed out using a bailout mechanism that includes:
a key mounted within the drive housing; and
a transfer drive shaft interconnected by gearing to the drive shaft and a firing member, the firing member being longitudinally movable within the drive housing and operatively coupled to a knife located at the end effector,
wherein a user accesses the key and manually couples the key to the transfer drive shaft, and wherein manually rotating the key in a first angular direction drives the firing member and the knife in a first longitudinal direction.
25 . The surgical tool of claim 19 , wherein the surgical tool is manually bailed out using a bailout mechanism that includes:
a bailout tool arranged on an exterior of the drive housing and operatively coupled to a primary gear mounted within the drive housing, the primary gear being interconnected by gearing to the drive shaft and rotatably mounted to a closure yoke, wherein the closure yoke is coupled to a closure tube of the shaft and movable to actuate opposing jaws of the end effector, and
wherein manually rotating the bailout tool drives the closure yoke and the closure tube in a longitudinal direction to actuate the opposing jaws.